Archive for the ‘Libya’ Category

REGIME CHANGE BY ANY OTHER NAME?by VICTOR DAVIS HANSON — NRO contributor Victor Davis Hanson is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution and the author of The Second World Wars: How the First Global Conflict Was Fought and Won, to appear in October from Basic Books

May 22, 2017

EXCERPT FROM THIS ARTICLE: We are now watching insidious regime change, aimed at removing the president of the United States not because of what he has done so far, but because of his personality and what he might do to the Obama agenda — and because for a variety of cultural reasons, our elite simply despises his very being.

Truth or consequences? Obama skated for far worse misdeeds. Election machines in three states were not hacked to give Donald Trump the election. There was never a serious post-election movement of electors to defy their constitutional duties and vote for Hillary Clinton. Nor, once Trump was elected, did transgendered people begin killing themselves in alarming numbers. Nor were there mass resignations at the State Department upon his inauguration.

Nor did Donald Trump seek an order to “ban all Muslims” from entering the U.S. Instead, he temporarily sought a suspension in visas for everyone, regardless of religion, from seven Middle Eastern states that the Obama administration had earlier identified as incapable of properly vetting travelers to the U.S. The first lady did not work for an elite escort or prostitute service. She never said that she and young Barron Trump would not be moving to the White House. Barron does not have autism. Trump’s father never ran racist ads as a supposed candidate in a purported political campaign. Kellyanne Conway denies that in a private conversation between segments on MSNBC, she privately remarked to hosts that she had to take a shower after working for Trump. Donald Trump never suggested to the Mexican president that the U.S. was going to invade Mexico. Nor did Trump plan to mobilize the National Guard to send back illegal aliens. He did not remove a Martin Luther King bust from the White House. There was no evidence that he ever promised to ease Russian sanctions (much less that he promised the Russians he would be “flexible” after he was elected). He did not short the FBI of resources to conduct an investigation into supposed Russian collusion. He did not go to Moscow and watch prostitutes in his bed urinate where Barack Obama had previously slept. His deputy attorney general did not threaten to resign over the Comey firing.

Who We Are and Who He Is

On March 28, 2011, Barack Obama stood behind a presidential podium at the National Defense University and addressed the nation. His ostensible topic was Libya, and his ostensible purpose was to explain his decision to intervene there. And over the course of his 27-minute address, he did this.

Muammar Qaddafi was poised to attack his own citizens. “His forces,” Obama said, “continued their advance, bearing down on the city of Benghazi, home to nearly 700,000 men, women, and children who sought their freedom from fear.” If the United States and its allies had waited, he added, Benghazi could have suffered “a massacre that would have reverberated across the region and stained the conscience of the world.”

Obama used the occasion, though, to speak on themes much grander than the conflict in Libya at that moment in the spring of his third year in office. He used it to describe his understanding of America’s role in the world throughout history. “For generations,” he said, “the United States of America has played a unique role as an anchor of global security and as an advocate for human freedom. Mindful of the risks and costs of military action, we are naturally reluctant to use force to solve the world’s many challenges. But when our interests and values are at stake, we have a responsibility to act.”

During the debate, Mrs. Clinton returned to the same line we’ve been fed for eight years: there’s an economic boom waiting in the Green Economy. No, there isn’t. In Part 3 of this 6 part series, Bill takes apart Hillary’s energy plans and examines the consequences to the planet.

Surely there was no greater missed opportunity in the first debate than listening to HILLARY CLINTON talk about how “concerned” she is about the security of classified government information.Bill Whittle rushes in where CNN fears to tread.

Hillary Clinton says she has a “plan” to “really squeeze ISIS in Syria.” It seems like Syria might be squeezed enough already. In Part 5 of this 6 part series, Bill Whittle lays out the historical facts that show that Clinton and Obama CREATED ISIS.

U.S. military woefully unprepared to aid Americans during Benghazi attack

No military forces were coming to rescue Americans besieged by terrorists on the night of Sept. 11, 2012, at the diplomatic outpost in Benghazi, Libya, according to a critical congressional report. (Associated Press)more >

EXCERPT FROM THIS ARTICLE: I think, at the [meeting], there was some discussion — but as I recall, we weren’t going to send them toBenghazi, because everybody was going to be back in Tripoli by the time we could actually get them there.”

The committee report expressed incredulity at this logic.

“While it may have been ‘pretty clear’ to Tidd that ‘nobody was going to be left inBenghazi,’ it was not at all clear to those inBenghaziwho were manning a rooftop exchanging gunfire with attackers,” the report said.

“Furthermore, the Diplomatic Security Agents and team from the Annex had to fight their way even from the Benghazi Mission compound to the Annex a short distance away while Team Tripoli had to negotiate with unknown militias for transportation from theBenghazi airportto the Annex. So, how the principals inWashingtonwere certain U.S. personnel inBenghaziwere going to be leaving Benghazi and how they were going to be leaving is itself unclear.”

When the besieged and wounded Americans — dealing with the deaths of Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens, his aide and two former Navy SEALs — finally reached theBenghazi airport, there were no U.S. military planes to get them out. They had to ride in the embassy-chartered flight and a Libyan C-130 that had been unable to fly at night………

Gen. Waldhauser testified that the command has located Islamic State targets to strike in Libya, but the action requires the approval of Mr. Obama, who has not given it.

Select Committee on Benghazi Releases Proposed Report

81 New Witnesses, 75,000 New Pages of Documents Reveal Significant New Information,

Fundamentally Changes the Public’s Understanding of the 2012 Terrorist Attacks that Killed Four Americans

Washington, D.C. – Select Committee on Benghazi Chairman Trey Gowdy (SC-04) released the following statement after the committee’s Majority released a mark of its investigative report:

“Chris Stevens, Sean Smith, Glen Doherty and Tyrone Woods were heroes who gave their lives in service to our country. Their bravery and the courageous actions of so many others on the ground that night should be honored.

“When the Select Committee was formed, I promised to conduct this investigation in a manner worthy of the American people’s respect, and worthy of the memory of those who died. That is exactly what my colleagues and I have done.

“Now, I simply ask the American people to read this report for themselves, look at the evidence we have collected, and reach their own conclusions. You can read this report in less time than our fellow citizens were taking fire and fighting for their lives on the rooftops and in the streets of Benghazi.”

The committee’s proposed report is just over 800 pages long and is comprised of five primary sections and 12 appendices. It details relevant events in 2011 and 2012.

By Kenneth R. Timmerman Kenneth R. Timmerman is the author of”Dark Forces: The Truth About What Happened in Benghazi” and president of the Foundation for Democracy in Iran

March 20, 2016

EXCERPT FROM THIS ARTICLE:

“Everyone knew the Iranians were in Benghazi,” former CIA security officer Kris “Tanto” Paranto said in an interview. “Especially once the Red Cross [Red Crescent] team from Iran was ‘kidnapped’ by Ansar al-Shariah, we knew about them and were tracking them.”

The “kidnapping” was reported in the Libyan press as the result of a feud between Sunni militiamen and an Iranian Shiite medical team, but in fact was a carefully staged deception operation to lead the CIA off the track.

“The kidnapping of the Red Crescent team in Benghazi was a false flag operation,” a U.S. Special Forces flag officer who was then providing intelligence support for overseas operations said.

“They were actually Quds Force operatives. The kidnapping was arranged to make it look like they were being taken hostages, when actually they were being taken off the street so they could covertly direct the attack on the U.S. compound. “We know from liaison relationships that Iranians did the training. They organized the militia and taught them how to zero in the mortars. They set up sophisticated surveillance of the consulate — and they did it all while they were ‘hostages,’” he said.

In the aftermath of the 2012 Benghazi attack that killed four Americans, Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lt. Gen. Michael T. Flynn tasked the intelligence community for information on Iran’s involvement in the attack.

Until now, government officials have refused to acknowledge any Iranian involvement in Benghazi. But the Flynn memo indicates that at least some in the U.S. intelligence community suspected Tehran from the very beginning.

A top secret Sept. 21 memo responding to the director’s inquiry and disclosed as the result of a Freedom of Information Act request from the conservative watchdog group Judicial Watch includes fragmentary information on al Qaeda affiliates. But its conclusions regarding Iran’s notorious Quds Force, a deadly hybrid of intelligence and special operations, have been totally redacted.